


Entities and Identities

by narusbun



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Eichi talks a lot, M/M, Rabbit!Eichi, Snake!Keito, Yokai AU, inspired by the zodiac gacha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 22:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20749502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narusbun/pseuds/narusbun
Summary: «I’ve always knew we were lonely creatures, living in a parallel universe from the human and animal worlds. That’s why I’ve decided to name myself – to have an identity and not to be a lonely, isolated entity.»





	Entities and Identities

**Author's Note:**

> Writing Eichi's long monologues is really tiring but it pays off, it sure does. His talk gets kind of guresome at some point (that's why the rating is Teen and Up Audiences) but it's nothing too strong - I just wanted to be safe.  
Anyway, enjoy, maybe leave a kudos and a comment and hit me up on twitter if you want!! I'm @/narusbun!!

It was a quiet night in the forest, but it wasn’t something unusual.

The cold season had started some time ago now, even though he couldn’t really make up his mind about it. He knew he should have prepared – all the snakes around him started eating as much as possible as the days started getting shorter and they also started gathering all sorts of branches and twigs to make their shelters as safe and warm as possible.

They all did it but him – or well, he did it but his shelter was rather far away from the others and it was also kind of different because, well, he was different.

He was blessed (even though he wouldn’t have used that adjective) enough to be able to switch between a snake form and a humanoid form – it was something humans called “youkai”, he heard them talking about those things while they explored the forest in warmer months, incredibly scared of seeing one. They talked about spirits like they were ferocious and blood-driven demons when, in reality, not all of them fitted that description. But humans couldn’t know about that so it was always better to stay hidden among the leaves and watch them unable to touch them or talk to them.

The Snake enjoyed his humanoid form. It allowed him to move and survive even when the sun was dim and the temperatures were fairly low and it also gave him a great advantage over other predators.

He loved walking through the forest on those two feet, looking around from a higher height, able to appreciate all the little things in the forest that he couldn’t really see when he was crawling on the ground in his reptile form. He could feel all those rich, earthy smells filling his lungs, the dew drop falling from the leaves and falling and tickling his weirdly cold skin, his hair slightly caressed by the winter breeze.

On that quiet night, he chose to assume that form. It always happened during the cold season, surviving was easier, and humans didn’t usually explore the forest during those times – it was probably because of the cold but, from what he had understood by overhearing the humans talking while walking through the forest, they were also extremely scared because the spirits’ activity was said to be more intense.

The sky was still dark, but he could feel that it would have soon seen some light – the morning twilight must have been getting closer, his instinct was telling him.

It snowed that night – a white, both thick and light snow fell from the sky, quietly dancing, without a sound. It was so silent that even his thoughts felt muffled.

He decided to stay up that night, looking at those small flakes falling until the grass was completely covered.

It must’ve been sad for the other snakes not being able to enjoy what he was seeing, not knowing the feeling of walking in the fresh snow, not knowing what it was like to feel their thoughts completely muted by the extreme silence.

His steps were not as elegant as usual, his feet kept sinking in what felt like a more consistent and yet soft, cold cloud. His human body felt heavier than usual and less agile – but, at the same time, he felt like that white softness was embracing him, changing its shape according to the curves of his body, guiding him towards an unknown destination.

He didn’t really know why he went out of his shelter, though. He felt the urge to, and he just did it, even though it was completely out of his usual behaviour. He stepped outside, not sure why and started walking towards where his feet were drawn to, letting the snow shape his way.

The Snake simply looked around, deeply in love with all those things surrounding him, letting his feet go.

There was something calling for him, even though nature was silent. There was something mysterious and interesting calling for his soul, begging him to leave his shelter and search for that something – and he couldn’t bring himself to simply ignore that feeling.

So, he walked, unusually reckless, wishing to be able to run but unable to take more than two steps without the risk of falling into the snow, longing to quickly reach that something.

It was when he heard a sudden, high pitched creak coming right in front of him that he had a rush of unusual fear.

He couldn’t assume his snake form – he would have died in a matter of minutes, snakes weren’t meant for crawling on the cold snow. All he could do was quickly (and rather carelessly, if he were to admit it) hide among some bushes, covered in snow.

The Snake then looked up, still hidden, and what is gaze met gave him cold, electric chills all down his spine, until the tip of his white tail.

His gaze met a pair of gorgeous, liquid eyes, the first light of the day and the reverberation of the snow shining into those irises that shared the same colour of the sky during the cold months, when it wasn’t covered in light gray clouds – a light, clear blue.

«Hiding in plain sight doesn’t look like a good idea to me» the figure chuckled.

In that moment only, the Snake realized what he was looking at – it was someone (or something?) who shared his same fate.

His hair was soft, the Snake could tell it from that distance, and among those blonde hair, a pair of white, rabbit ears sprang. The Rabbit was sitting on a tree right in front of the bushes he was hiding into, on one of the higher branches, with his feet hanging down like those of some human child he saw playing in the forest.

The Snake slowly stood up, careful, with some chills still lingering at the end of his tail.

«A white snake,» the Rabbit slightly tilted his head, a smile growing on his face, «I should consider myself pretty lucky. Humans say that you guys are fairly rare.»

He didn’t know, he had no idea of what humans thought.

He always kept distance and he was quite sure he couldn’t be part of their species.

«Why are you sitting up there?» the Snake slightly frowned, confused «Rabbits shouldn’t be able crawl onto high places like trees.»

The Rabbit chuckled again, softly.

«I could ask you the same question – why are you walking down there?» one of his finger went to his head as he started playing with a strand of blonde hair «Snakes shouldn’t be able to walk on feet and be awake during the cold season, should they?»

The Snake really couldn’t say anything – as hard as it was to admit it, he was right. His walking was just as unusual to the Rabbit’s leap on that branch.

But neither of them was an animal and yet, somehow, they both were.

«You shouldn’t be surprised by the unusualness in others when you yourself are unusual. It’s quite foolish, if I may say so myself.»

The Rabbit finally let go of that strand of hair, gently placing his now free hand onto the branch he was sitting on.

They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, their gazes locked, unable to look away. The sense of danger in the Snake completely disappeared, the only remaining thing was a feeling of magic, like his spirit was slowly detaching from his body and expanding its limits. His feet no longer felt that attraction towards that mysterious thing in the forest – they got where they wanted to be and there was no reason to simply turn around and go back to the cave.

«Will you join me or not?» the Rabbit started patting his hand on the branch, right by his side.

The Snake really didn’t have time to think about what he told him. He got up on the tree without asking a thing about _why_ the Rabbit wanted to be together with him, his feet simply executed that order directly imparted by his spirit.

He was used to climbing on trees, both in his humanoid and snake form. It was the easiest way to hide from the humans’ eyes and it also felt natural to him.

He took a sit beside the Rabbit, maintaining a rightful distance and peered in front of him. He could already witness the first lights of the new day, the sun would have rose in a matter of time.

Was that the reason why the Rabbit decided to take that leap towards such a high place?

«Aren’t you scared?» the Snake spoke in a soft, quiet voice. That question had unintentionally slipped out of his mouth and, before he knew it, it was out, and the Rabbit had heard it.

«Of what? The sun?» the Rabbit laughed. Or well, he chuckled again. His voice was low and had an elegant way of articulating words, it looked like the syllables danced in his voice, caressing the Snake sensitive ears.

«No, aren’t you scared _of me_?» the Snake turned his gaze towards the other once again. «I could kill you, if I wanted. I’m your natural predator, after all. It wouldn’t be so unusual, am I right?»

The Rabbit’s ears tilted a little and he turned his face towards the Snake – his hair elegantly wafting through the breeze, his eyes, full of curiosity, felt enhancing and somewhat wise on the Snake’s skin. He lost himself in his thoughts for a few moments, his face slightly assuming a thoughtful and interesting expression.

«Why should I be scared of you?» he had the power to feel both somewhat confused but also amused. «You would need to turn into a snake, to kill me. And I had to assume my rabbit form to allow you to kill me and I have no intention of doing it.»

«That’s not necessarily true – snakes’ bites are venomous.» the Snake replied, locking his gaze with those light coloured eyes. «Humans are scared of them, you don’t have to be a rabbit to allow me to kill you.»

The Rabbit laughed – but for real this time, he even tilted his head a little.

«Do you believe all the humans’ whispers you overhear through the leaves where you’re hiding?» he stopped laughing to look at him in the eyes again, with a soft and yet mischievous expression. «Moreover, you would perish first. Don’t snakes need to hibernate because of the cold? But you’re wide awake in front of me – you’ve been awake since the beginning of the cold season, I know it. I wonder what you’ve been eating since the cold started, with everything coated in white, freezing snow. If you were to turn into a snake just to kill me, you would surely die, am I right?»

The Snake barely had the time to slightly open his mouth to reply before the Rabbit could start speaking again.

«Turning into a snake wouldn’t offer you any benefit. You would instantly freeze – and you would die a horrible death. You would probably be left with your mouth completely open, your eyes dull and empty, your skin could potentially crack up. You would disintegrate, there wouldn’t be much left of you. And that is truly ugly, don’t you think?» he could see the Rabbit almost chuckling while he was quickly spitting out those words, in a soft, beautiful voice. «And even if you were able to kill me, you wouldn’t get any benefit out of it. You could die before eating me, because of the cold and because you probably haven’t eaten enough since the winter started, killing me would suck all the remaining life out of your body, you wouldn’t even have enough strength to approach my lifeless body. And even if you were to eat me, it would only hurt you, am I right?»

The Snake stared at him with cold, expressionless eyes. Seeing a rabbit that knowledgeable about snakes was almost scary.

He had always known that his preys knew their lifestyle and their way of moving in order to avoid them and survive but that… That was scary. Knowing how snakes could die, knowing the full process was on another level.

«My flesh would rot inside of your stomach while you go back to your shelter and hibernate. I would slowly, inevitably kill you from the inside, minute after minute. I would make your stomach collapse, you wouldn’t be able to eat at all. Your insides would suffer because of all the rotting I brought into your body. You would die of a terrible, disgusting death.» the Rabbit’s smile finally faded away and the Snake couldn’t tell if he was still amused by all that sort of stuff.

Weren’t rabbits supposed to be cute? And innocent?

«And then, at the end of everything, are you really sure that you were the one who won the fight, Snake?» he brought one of his slender, thin fingers to his chin, lost in his thoughts. «If you die at the end, did you really win? Or was I the winner, the one who made you rot from the inside and killed you, surpassing my physical death and getting revenge? Can I get a benefit by killing you from your stomach if I’m not there to witness it? If I were able to kill you like that, I probably wouldn’t get any benefit from it – I’m already dead, none else could have me as their prey. But I would keep you from taking away other lives. But at what price? Or do we both lose if we both die?»

The Rabbit slid closer to him, another cute and playful smile appearing on his face.

«Or maybe it’s even more complicated – we’re not mere animals. Who assures us that we wouldn’t get reincarnated if we ended up killing each other?» the Snake was finally able to reply.

That Rabbit was more talkative than expected – and, he had to admit it, he was quite surprised.

«If we both keep on living in different bodies, neither of us has won or lost.»

The Rabbit slightly hummed after the Snake’s words.

«Reincarnation? Why are suddenly talking about such a thing? It really doesn’t fit what you’ve said all this time» said, as he was leaning forward.

He gently placed a hand on his cheek – it was one of the warmest things he has ever felt against is cold skin and it was incredibly soft. The Rabbit even brought his face closer to the Snake’s, slightly leaning his white ears backwards.

«Who are you? We may not be mere animals, but… who are you? Are you a spirit? Are you a human? Where do you belong?» he whispered.

His breath was hot against the skin of his lips – none had ever got that close to him.

All those question… He couldn’t answer them. The wise, white snake, always prepared for everything, didn’t have an answer.

«You’ve talked about killing me like a cold-blooded beast» he laughed a little, it was probably for that horrible pun, «and yet you suddenly talk about morals and rebirth. Are we different from animals because of our bodies, able to switch between two forms, or are we different because we do have some type of moral? Is it the body or the mind that makes us different? And if we really consider ourselves different, can we really call ourselves humans? Do we have such a priviledge? Just because we may have morals?»

His eyes wandered from the Snake’s eyes to his neck and then went back to his eyes – he was lost in thought, he was giving a voice to all the thoughts he had running in his head.

«Who are we? But most importantly, who are you? What do you think you are? _What do you want to be?»_

And then, suddenly, it looked like the Rabbit came back to reality.

He gave the Snake a little smile and his warm hand slipped away from his cheek and his face got a little farther. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to – did he want to apologize for talking that much about all those things?

«Why do you struggle so much with wanting to be part of something that you’re clearly not part of?» the Snake’s voice wasn’t as soft as the Rabbit’s, his tone was quite sharp.

The Rabbit looked at him with his eyes slightly wide, visibly confused. Was he scolding him? Why did he suddenly sound so strict?

«Nature has decided that we’re all part of it – and then divided its components in two major groups, animals and humans. These two groups aren’t meant to meet, even though they have the same common goal which is surviving and living. That’s why they both hunt each other – humans hunt animals for food and defense, animals hunt humans for food and defense. They share a balance between each other, they complement each other.»

The Rabbit tilted his head a little but didn’t say anything – he wanted him to continue with what he was saying, he caught his attention.

«And then there’s us, what humans call “spirits”, “demons”, “epiphanies” – we don’t belong to the humans’ world nor to the animals’ world. We are part of a third, different world. We hunt animals and humans, but humans and animals don’t hunt us in return. We don’t have a balance – and that’s why we can’t take part of that killing, bloody harmony nor interfere with it.»

They looked at each other for some moments, quietly. The Rabbit didn’t know what to say, he probably didn’t expect that kind of response. He probably had always refused that possibility.

«… No wonder they consider you wise, White Snake.» the Rabbit finally chuckled again, lightly swinging his feet from the branch. «You definitely practice what you preach – you could easily rule all the snakes in this forest and yet you choose to live far away from them.»

«Because I’m not meant to be with them. I may share some common aspects in my life but that doesn’t enable me to freely live with them. It’s not what Nature thought.»

«And that’s why you have no reason for killing me or hunting me – it’s not because you would die, it’s because it would go against your rules. Even though I don’t know whether there are rules about spirits hunting other sprits or not.»

The Snake slightly nodded. He had no reason to kill him.

The Rabbit looked down, his gaze quickly ran on the white, cold carpet at the feet of the tree.

They both stayed silent for some time – humans would probably have called those moments “minutes”.

Were they done talking? Was there any reason for them to stay there?

No, not really, thought the Snake. Maybe the sunrise, they probably were drawn there because it was the perfect spot to look at the sun rising and kissing the trees with his warm, golden rays.

«I’m Eichi, anyway.» the Rabbit looked at him again, getting a confused stare in return. «Did you give yourself a name too?»

The Snake shook his head.

No, he never thought of it. There was no need to – he was simply the White Snake, there was none to talk to that could make use of a name for him.

Additionally, weren’t names just meant for humans? Animals didn’t have them. Even though it was also true that he wasn’t exactly part of those worlds.

«As I thought.» Eichi laughed, giving him a relaxed look. «I’ve always knew we were lonely creatures, living in a parallel universe from the human and animal worlds. That’s why I’ve decided to name myself – to have an identity and not to be a lonely, isolated entity.»

The Snake nodded, this time. He could see his point and it made sense.

He too thought that existence was lonely.

«Humans usually name other humans while animals don’t name each other at all. I,» Eichi touched his chest with one of his hands, «myself, have decided to name this spirit and this body. And I think you should have a name too. If we start giving ourselves names, we could feel less lonely, we could stop being outcasts to ourselves. Maybe we could even start living together, build some sort of society – no, I’m thinking too much.»

It was somewhat true, the Snake had to admit it. If he were to name himself, he would have probably started feeling part of something. He could have started building an identity and stopped feeling out of touch with his own life.

«If you want to hear it, I would have a name in mind for you. I think it would really suits you – if you want to make it into your own name, of course.»

The Snake smiled for the first time since they met and Eichi smiled back – he could already feel a part of something bigger then him.

«Then tell me, maybe I’ll accept it.» he whispered, while the Rabbit reached for his wrist.

He took his hand and opened his palm and, with one of his long, elegant fingers, started tracing lines. He was writing something.

«Keito.» Eichi said, rewriting on the Snake’s palm what he said. «The first part, “kei”, means “respect”, since you’re so knowledgeable about the rules of the universe. And the second part, “to”, means “human”, because you’re the most human entity I’ve ever met in this long, endless life.»

“Keito” – it was surely a cute name.

He liked it, it probably fitted him better then he thought.

«I could get used to it, that’s not bad.»

Eichi smiled – it was the brightest smile he gave that night. And he was even more gorgeous thanks to the rays of that golden sunrise that gently braided with his soft, blond hair that almost looked like delicate strings of a faint gold, tickling his smooth skin and those pale eyelashes.

Eichi cupped his hand with his and then quickly looked towards the light. He had been waiting that moment for the entire night.

He felt like something was slowly changing, that sunrise could have symbolized a new beginning.

It was time for them, lonely entities, to rise and to embrace together their identities so that they wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

«Keito, look.»

Keito’s gaze shifted from that beautiful figure holding his hand to the sun. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises he had ever seen – and he saw lots of them.

They stayed in silence, keeping it quiet. The sun was slowly and lazily rising, waking up the sleeping Nature and warming it up a little.

Eichi was still cupping his hand but he didn’t mind – it felt natural, he felt some type of warmth that he has never experienced before and, deep down, he didn’t want to let it go.

«Let’s not be lonely anymore» Keito whispered.

Eichi didn’t reply – he simply held his hand stronger and smiled with grace.

He also had no intention of letting go.


End file.
